Op-Ed: North Carolina Farmers Need Real Reform to Restore Fertilizer Affordability
by Allan Baucom
Farmer and businessman
Former Union County Commissioner
Agriculture remains one of North Carolina’s strongest economic pillars, supporting livelihoods from small family operations to major agribusinesses. But while crops, livestock, climate, and markets vary widely across the state, producers share one universal need: dependable access to affordable fertilizer. In recent years, that need has become harder to meet.
Producers across North Carolina recently welcomed President Trump’s decision to narrow the scope of several agricultural tariffs. But the moment also served as a reminder of a longstanding challenge that the EO does not address: the countervailing duties (CVDs) imposed by the Biden Administration in 2021 on vital fertilizer imports. Those duties remain in place, and they continue to drive the very cost pressures that farmers have been wrestling with for multiple seasons.
The CVDs, AKA the Biden Farm Tax, fundamentally reshaped fertilizer markets almost overnight. By restricting access to important imported inputs, including phosphate, Biden Administration policy funneled producers into a narrower supply channel and pushed prices to levels that have persisted season after season. This was not the result of a fertilizer shortage or global price shock. It was a direct consequence of limiting access to long-standing, reliable suppliers.
North Carolina farmers have been adapting ever since. Some have adjusted nutrient plans in ways that carry real agronomic risk. Others have scaled back acres, delayed equipment investments, or restructured rotations to offset unexpectedly high input costs. These decisions echo across the broader agricultural economy, and a state like ours cannot avoid the downstream effects when fertilizer becomes a financial choke point.
Every link in the system feels it: feed prices edge upward, grain markets tighten, processing margins narrow, and suppliers contend with more uncertainty.
More concerningly, consumers ultimately bear the cost when food production becomes more expensive. While slight seasonal fluctuations are normal, the sustained nature of these elevated fertilizer prices has created a long-term headwind for everyone, from producers to families shopping for groceries.
That is why the countervailing duties pose a structural problem, one that temporary relief measures, no matter how welcome, cannot solve. As long as the duties stay in place, North Carolina agriculture remains at a disadvantage compared with global competitors whose governments have kept fertilizer inputs plentiful and affordable. Meanwhile, countries like Brazil and China have expanded both production and exports, while American producers face hurdles imposed on their own supply.
With the fertilizer duties scheduled for reassessment in 2026, North Carolina has an opportunity to help shape the national discussion before decisions are made. Senator Thom Tillis, who has consistently emphasized the importance of keeping North Carolina’s economic engines competitive, is well-positioned to bring the state’s agricultural perspective into sharper focus. By highlighting how sustained fertilizer costs are affecting producers and the businesses that depend on them, he can help ensure that federal leaders fully grasp the long-term implications for rural stability and the broader food economy.
Revisiting the fertilizer duties does not require closing America’s broader trade toolbox. It simply means examining whether a narrow set of restrictions is causing more harm than good. Removing the duties would widen supply options, reintroduce price competition, and ease the financial pressure currently weighing down North Carolina’s agricultural economy, all without new bureaucracy or federal spending.
North Carolina producers have always found ways to adapt, whether facing tough weather patterns, hurricanes, market swings, or supply chain challenges. But even the most resilient operations cannot thrive when policy-driven costs distort the most basic inputs required to grow food. Restoring stability to the fertilizer market is one of the most direct and lasting ways to strengthen agriculture, support rural economies, and reduce food costs for families.
If federal leaders want to build on the progress signaled by the recent tariff relief, they must address the root of the problem. Ending the fertilizer duties is the next necessary step, and one that would deliver meaningful, long-term benefits to North Carolina agriculture and the communities that depend on it.
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